Thanks for starting your week with The Western Word! Here are the topics for today’s column:

• Great Falls Fireworks
• More Cows, Please
• Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip
• Coldplay Kiss Cam
• One More Thing

GREAT FALLS FIREWORKS:

There is a Great Falls City Commission “Special Work Session” scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at 5:30 pm in the Commission Chambers to continue the “Discussion on Potential Fireworks Restrictions.” (Source)

In a related matter, Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon posted some thoughts on his personal Facebook page regarding comments made during the commission meeting about the fireworks issue:

I was angered and disgusted last Tuesday at our GF city commission meeting during public comment when several of the fireworks vendors stood up and claimed that the death of the woman who died in the house fire was her own fault, because she was a ‘hoarder’ or ‘ran back in the house to save her cat’.

Are you kidding me?

And now I’ve seen a couple of folks starting a rumor that the fire was started indoors. False.

I know that the fireworks issue is emotionally charged, but we shouldn’t allow it to bring out such hatred, dishonesty, and meanness.

I can handle being called names, because I signed up for it – but let’s try to show a little more respect and decency for our fellow citizens as we move forward on this matter.

Let’s get the popcorn ready for Tuesday evening! This meeting might be fun! 

By the way, I support banning the use of fireworks in the city of Great Falls. I hope the commission places it on the ballot in November.

MORE COWS, PLEASE:

On Friday, the Montana Free Press (MTFP) reported that Montana’s famous cow-to-person ratio has narrowed a bit. U.S. Department of Agriculture data from early 2024 shows 2.12 million cattle roaming the state alongside 1.14 million people. That’s still nearly two cows for every Montanan, but it’s down from the more dramatic ratios of years past. As recently as 2022, the ratio was more than two cows per person.

MTFP also dug a little deeper into the cow/people numbers and reported:

Drive through rural Petroleum County in the central part of Montana and you’ll encounter one of the most lopsided landscapes in America: 525 people sharing space with more than 32,000 cattle, working out to 62 cows per person. Neighboring Garfield County runs a close second at 59:1, while Powder River County in the southeastern corner of the state clocks in at 50:1. 

SENATE SEATS MOST LIKELY TO FLIP:

Montana (Steve Daines) is not on the list, and I don’t see anyone mounting a significant challenge to him, unless he is primaried by one of the statewide office holders, then it could get messy. 

I don’t care for Daines. He is a wimp, a terrible senator, and he deserves to lose. 

The Senate seats that are most likely to flip, according to The Hill, are those in North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Texas, and Michigan. 

Check out the reasoning behind each HERE. 

COLDPLAY KISS CAM:

In case you missed it (I don’t know how you could have), during a Coldplay concert last week in Boston, a camera was pointed at couples in the audience. One camera shot showed the CEO of a company named Astronomer (Andy Byron) in an intimate embrace with his company’s chief people officer.

Byron, who is married with children, immediately hid when the couple was shown on screen. The “Chief People Officer” was identified as Kristin Cabot. There are some reports saying she is married and others saying she is divorced.

Byron has resigned from the company. (Source) I have not heard about Cabot. 

There have been several reenactments of the kiss cam incident. Click HERE to see a few. 

At the next Coldplay concert, lead singer Chris Martin gave the audience a “heads-up” before the kiss cam went live…

ONE MORE THING:

At the young age of 5, a bear told me that I am the only person who can prevent forest fires. 

Why I was chosen, I’ll never know…

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##